First - I want to thank everyone who took the time to share their views directly or through the other "OT" thread. It is humbling to know that you care enough about this community to have strong feelings, and it feels like everyone has the underlying desire to make this group a better place.
That got me thinking about what purpose this group serves. At the time of its creation, it was, in my mind, a refuge. I used the analogy of a "neutral ground" social gathering place - a pub where everyone left their weapons outside and agreed to find similar interests rather than inflame differences. The tone and tenor of the internet at that time had shifted a bit from the generally helpful tone (of say Sheldon Brown's expansive resources) to a more caustic approach (anyone remember rec.bicycles...?) and I felt it was important to create a supportive refuge. (There were other issues too which had to do with RBW's email list and such, but I don't want to digress...). Things have continued to change since 2007, of course. It's very difficult to have a reasonable conversation using only printed words in the best of times. Recently we have not been experiencing the best of times. So, that's what we have here, today. These times. Our group. Does this group matter? Is it important? Is the idea of a refuge viable? Is everyone so wired and induced to react that we cannot give one another the space to be wrong? I'm not sure I can answer any of those questions today, and ultimately they are maybe not all that important. I do know the following: - I have two blunt tools at my disposal for wrangling this group - deleting things and setting moderating levels for members. - I have limited time to manage this group (not a change - just a statement of fact). - I can also remove members, though I've only had to do that a few times in the history of this group. I've always felt this group isn't for everyone. iBob is a much more free-wheeling, broadly raucous group. I suspect there are groups and threads and gatherings on Discord, Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, twitter and a bunch of other places I'm not hip enough to know about, where bicycles are discussed alongside religion, politics, economic theory and other firey topics. This group - and the individual members who make it up - have lurched into and out of strong disagreement many times. Some of you I've known - through the old rec.bicycles groups - for more than 25 years. Which is kind of weird to write. So, I kind of shake my head and know that you'll self-correct, or understand a larger context where your most recent - and sometimes quite flippant and unfortunate - comment lives. But newer members may not know that, and don't understand us (any of us) to that degree. I ask those of you who have been here a long time and remain active to act with a little more car before pressing "Post" or clicking "Send". Everyone is on edge right now and it doesn't take much to spark responses. Which brings me back to wanting this group to remain a place of neutral ground. To that end, and to ratchet things down, here are a few thoughts: - For the next month (through end of July), let's truncate our email "footer" - name is fine, location if you want, even what Rivendell you ride or lust for. But let's excise any exhaltations, quotes, passages, businesses, links or other non-name-rank-serial number level info. - Please do not start non-RBW _bicycle_ threads. I will likely simply delete them for a while. - Ride reports encouraged, as always. It helps offset the buy/sell posts which proliferate here. Finally, a reminder - a thread continues only as long as people comment upon it. Nothing wrong with letting someone else have the last word. Be well, stay safe. - Jim / list admin -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/ad08c06f-85e2-4117-a781-b94448bd9632o%40googlegroups.com.
